Our Hatred (Or Love) Of Cilantro May Be Genetic

If you hate the herb cilantro (also commonly known as coriander)
that's often found in staple Mexican dishes like guacamole, you
aren't alone. And now researchers have started to figure out why:
A new paper found several genetic variants that are linked to the
green garnish's potentially soapy taste.

The garish garnish is often found in Mexican food, but shows up
in almost every type of cuisine.

“O soapy flavour / Why pollutest thou my food? / Thou me makest
retch,” reads one of the hundreds of haikus posted to the website
IHateCilantro.com. There is
clearly sympathy for this stance — 21% of east Asians, 17% of
people of European ancestry and 14% of people of African descent
say they dislike the stuff, according to a paper published this
year in the journal Flavour. By contrast, 3–7% of south
Asians, Latin Americans and Middle Eastern subjects disapproved
of the herb, which is more common in their native cuisines.

By surveying the genes of nearly 30,000 people, researchers at
the personal genetics company 23andMe
identified two genetic variants that change the way someone
perceives the taste of the leafy green, at least one of which is
linked to how a person senses smells. As much as 80 percent of
what we perceive as taste actually comes from smell, and the gene
makes people more sensitive to chemicals known as aldehydes that
give cilantro it's characteristic flavor.

The genetic link is complex and could involve multiple genes, the
researchers say. It's likely that only a small percent of
cilantro-hatred is genetic, possibly about 10 percent. The rest
is probably cultural or a learned preference.

See more at Nature, including a recipe for a cilantro pesto
made especially for those who hate cilantro (hint: crushing the
greens speeds the chemical breakdown of the soapy-tasting
molecules). And visit ihatecilantro.com to commiserate with
fellow anti-cilantrites.